Ruth Ray's Nativity paintings set in red barns of Connecticut

Published 10:22 pm, Friday, November 26, 2010

The late Darien socialite-turned-painter Ruth Ray will be remembered with a selection of her "Nativity" paintings at the Southport Galleries' holiday show, which runs from Dec. 3 through Jan. 5.

The late Darien socialite-turned-painter Ruth Ray will be remembered with a selection of her "Nativity" paintings at the Southport Galleries' holiday show, which runs from Dec. 3 through Jan. 5.

Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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Works from the late Ruth Ray's "Nativity" series, set in New England barns, will be on view at Southport Galleries in Fairfield Dec. 3 through Dec. 5.

Works from the late Ruth Ray's "Nativity" series, set in New England barns, will be on view at Southport Galleries in Fairfield Dec. 3 through Dec. 5.

Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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Nativity scenes, set in New England, painted by the late Ruth Ray will be featured in a holiday show opening Dec. 3 at Southport Galleries in Fairfield.

Nativity scenes, set in New England, painted by the late Ruth Ray will be featured in a holiday show opening Dec. 3 at Southport Galleries in Fairfield.

Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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The late Ruth Ray's "The Runaway Bathtub" will be featured in a holiday show, opening Dec. 3, at Southport Galleries in Fairfield.

The late Ruth Ray's "The Runaway Bathtub" will be featured in a holiday show, opening Dec. 3, at Southport Galleries in Fairfield.

Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Ruth Ray's Nativity paintings set in red barns of Connecticut

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The late American master Ruth Ray, a Darien socialite-turned-artist, painted the world as she imagined it -- with realistic detail, but with a slightly unusual bent.

So when she decided to create a suite of paintings for her own family's holiday celebrations, she did so using Old Master landscape techniques and focused on the Nativity.

But her Nativity scenes -- recalling the birth of Jesus Christ -- are not set in a manger in ancient Bethlehem, but in a bright red barn like those found on many Connecticut farms.

Ruth Ray (1919-1977) -- whose style is often described as Romantic Realism or Magic Realism -- "was unquestionably a woman ahead of her times," says art historian Philip Eliasoph, who is mounting an exhibition this holiday season featuring a sampling of works from the artist's estate.

A few of Ray's "Connecticut Nativities" will be included in "Gifts that Endure: Mini-Masterpieces," a show that opens Friday, Dec. 3, at Southport Galleries in Fairfield. The exhibition, which celebrates the gallery's first year of operation, kicks off with a free public reception on opening day from 6 to 8 p.m. On view through Jan. 5, the show features works from numerous artists represented by the gallery, including Ernest Garthwaite, Miggs Burroughs, Enid Munroe, Janet Slom, Jane Sutherland, Robert Vickrey and Guy Wiggins; styles range from "realism to abstraction and beyond."

Eliasoph, a professor of art history at Fairfield University and co-founder of the gallery, says that "Gifts that Endure" will mark the first public appearance of Ray's Nativity paintings since her death.

"It was through Mr. James Lipton, a New York and Connecticut-based art expert, that I first learned of this remarkable cache of paintings by Ruth Ray still in the hands of her family members here in Connecticut. The more questions I asked about her career, the more I came to realize that she was a truly eminent figure in the New York arts world half a century ago, rather forgotten of late.

"But our show in Southport will be the beginning of her revival." Eliasoph predicted.

A gallery goal, added Eliasoph, is to "excavate, rejuvenate, revive and resurrect the careers" of underappreciated and undervalued American masters such as Ray.

Ray, who was elected by her peers to the prestigious National Academy in 1968, is described by Eliasoph as "a marvelously gifted artist," who was "tall, charismatically attractive . . .a champion equestrian and devoted mother."

"Her education at Dalton, Swarthmore and Barnard (colleges) was her introduction to history and literature, while her fine art training at the Pennsylvania Academy and the Art Students League, along with her travels abroad, put her in touch with the leading realist and avant-garde painters of her time."

Born on Nov. 8, 1919, in New York City, Ray was the only child of Marie Beynon Ray -- managing editor of "Vogue," associate editor of "Harper's Bazaar" and the vice president of a large cosmetics company -- and Oscar Willard Ray, a successful businessman.

Trained in Italian Renaissance methods, using classical composition and egg tempera as a medium, Ray said that she preferred not to be labeled in terms of style, according to her Web site ruthrayartist.com.

"A good strong word for a category makes it easier to think about, but I think painters go through many stages, and they are different types of painters at different times. If you look at Picasso, he went through a multitude of stages -- as a person in any other career goes through stages, or else he is not growing.

"I think it is stultifying to be labeled just to make it easier for the critics who leave you in a category like the letter file. I would prefer not to be labeled at all (but) . . . I was characterized by Mr. Erwin Barrie, who had a good sense of advertising and selling of art -- bless his heart -- as Romantic Realism or Magic Realism. Now, either one of those labels I can swallow, if I have to. The word I do not accept is to be called a surrealist," she is quoted as saying.

Following the Museum of Modern Art's landmark "American Realism and Magic Realism" exhibition of 1943, she wrote: "Magic is always in the eye of the beholder."

Ray, who served on the board of the National Academy, was featured in scores of solo shows at Grand Central Art Gallery, Ferargil and Norlyst galleries in New York, the Columbus Museum, the Silvermine Guild of Artists in Norwalk, Rive Gauche Galleries in Denver and the National Museum of Sport at Madison Square Garden, among others. She died on Dec. 18, 1977, reportedly of cancer.

Of her Nativity paintings, she once wrote that they were intensely personal:

"To decorate one's home for Christmas, one puts up a tree, makes a wreath, prepares a turkey dinner -- but to me Christmas is so much more. I wanted my children early on to know this glorious season was approaching. For them, I painted the Nativity."

WHEN YOU GO

Southport Galleries is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. The gallery is at 330 Pequot Ave. in the center of Southport Village, a section of Fairfield. For additional information, call (203) 292-6124 or visit www.southportgalleries.com.